Stateline Victoria

A small Russian Orthodox community realises a dream of constructing their own cathedral

LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: This 19th century bluestone church in Collingwood has been the home of the Russian Orthodox Church in Melbourne since the 1950s, but the 400-member congregation has always dreamed of worshipping in a place they call heaven on earth - a traditional Russian-style cathedral.

VERY REVEREND FATHER NICHOLAS KARIPOFF, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH: This dream of our community has been waiting for its fruition for quite a while. Some members of the community, of the congregation have always felt that even though we do have a roof over our heads in Collingwood, it is not something that expresses our spirit in the way that we would like that spirit to be expressed.

LISA WHITEHEAD: For 15 years the congregation has shown it has an enormous spirit, with parishioners sacrificing their own time and money to realise the dream on this Brunswick site.

VERY REVEREND FATHER NICHOLAS KARIPOFF: What has been especially important in the actual hands-on building, coming here on the weekends, on Saturdays specifically, every Saturday once a week over a period of 15 years - that shows fantastic dedication.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Church member and carpenter Michael Yakimov is one of the dedicated, who has happily sacrificed his days off.

MICHAEL YAKIMOV, CARPENTER: Every Saturday, almost every Saturday.

LISA WHITEHEAD: For 15 years?

MICHAEL YAKIMOV: Yep.

LISA WHITEHEAD: That's a big effort.

MICHAEL YAKIMOV: Long time, isn't it?

LISA WHITEHEAD: Michael Yakimov laid the recycled ironbark floor and help with the framing and roofwork.

MICHAEL YAKIMOV: We were putting crosses up and I was in the basket with a cross and we were trying to get this cross into the hole there.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Did you say a little prayer before you did it?

MICHAEL YAKIMOV: Oh, yes, I did.

VERY REVEREND FATHER NICHOLAS KARIPOFF: We constructed the onion domes ourselves inside the church and then lifted them out through a temporary opening in the alter section that was left open.

NICK CHLEBNIKOWSKI, PARISHIONER: You've got to remember, Russia is a pretty cool climate. As it snows down, you can't have a contemporary dome in timber because basically the loads on those domes would be too great. So they came up with these onion shaped domes which were in the form of the candles so the snow would actually slide off them.

VERY REVEREND FATHER NICHOLAS KARIPOFF: Golden domes are meant to symbolise burning candles, candle flame and the church building is seen as a sort of a candle put up on the candle stand for God. It shows the burning of the spirit. All the woodcarving here has been done by two young Russian men that the community sponsored to come from Russia.

SERGEI ANIKEEV, WOODCARVER: They sponsor me and I really appreciate them for these things, thank you very much. For that job we spent probably more than a year full-time.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Once the painting of the icons on the walls is finished, the cathedral will be complete. Volunteers can take credit for two-thirds of the work but their time wasn't all they were prepared to give.

INNES SMITH, PARISHIONER: We didn't realise the cost. It was a budget blow-out. We thought about $1 million initially, but it has been over $2 million.

LISA WHITEHEAD: How did you raise that sort of money?

INNES SMITH: Well, just through various means like Buy a Brick campaign, 50 cents a brick. A number of people bought a few dollars worth at a time. Then we had balls, raffles. A lot of these old parishioners really have been very generous. Having witnessed the destruction of their own churches under Communism, it's actually a triumph of the human spirit to regenerate and produce a brand new cathedral that they are part of.

NICK CHLEBNIKOWSKI: My Grandfather had spent 10 years in a Gulag archipelago working in the salt mines. So to come to Australia and experience this kind of freedom that you had in this country, as long as you are obeyed the laws of the land, you could actually do what you wanted to do. Your aspirations were there to be achieved. This building and this cathedral is really a thanksgiving for the kind of welcome that we got in this country.

LISA WHITEHEAD: As the Russian Orthodox community prepares for Christmas in the little old bluestone church, Michael Yakimov and the other volunteers will be working hard each Saturday, hoping to complete the Cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in time for Easter.

VERY REVEREND FATHER NICHOLAS KARIPOFF: We went through ups and downs and it hasn't been easy. It shows the level of commitment of the community and their patience and long-suffering. It has been a labour of love.